A rail firm has been given a contract to provide services for another four years even though a union leader said 40 per cent of its trains ran late last year.

Southeastern was also rated worst out of 23 rail firms for passenger satisfaction in a report by watchdogs three months ago.

But the company, operated by Go-Ahead, will continue running services between London, Kent and parts of East Sussex until June 2018, the Government said.

Southeastern was rated worst out of 23 rail firms for passenger satisfaction in a report by watchdogs three months ago (file picture)

Rail unions last night said ‘fat cat’ rail bosses were being rewarded for failure.

Go-Ahead chief executive David Brown saw his pay, perks and bonus package more than double from £942,000 last year to £1.96million this year.

Mick Cash, acting general secretary of the RMT rail union, condemned the extended franchise deal as ‘a reward for total and abject failure’.

Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA union, added: ‘Nothing succeeds like failure if you are Southeastern. Our real time arrival figures showed this week that 40 per cent of their trains arrived late last year.’

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A survey by rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus in June found 45 per cent of Southeastern’s passengers considered their ticket either poor or unsatisfactory in terms of value for money – the highest dissatisfaction level among the UK train companies.

Rail minister Claire Perry said: ‘I know passengers on this route haven’t always received the service that they deserve, which is why I am determined that today marks a fresh start for the Southeastern franchise.’

That includes more than 95,000 extra seats across the network. Mr Brown promised more staff on stations, a spruce-up of trains, more ticket machines and better station security.

the company, operated by Go-Ahead, will continue running services between London, Kent and parts of East Sussex until June 2018, the Government said (file picture)